Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Wait what? Islam is not an officially recognized religion in Italy!

by Salman Hameed

Well, this lack of official recognition of Islam is a surprise to me. The reasons for this non-recognition are complex, and at least some of the blame is shared by Italy's Muslims as well. But I found this out from an article written by my nephew, Mustafa Hameed (woo hoo!). Here it is from the Washington Post: Lacking Recognition, Italy's Muslims Face an Uncertain Future:

In a country dominated by Roman Catholics, Muslims make up
Italy’s second-largest religious group. A Pew study estimated that more
than 1.5 million Muslims live in Italy, a number projected to double by
2030.

Though it has more adherents than several faiths with
official status — including Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism — Islam is
not an officially recognized religion in Italy. Consequently, no Muslim
organizations can receive funding through an Italian law that allows
taxpayers to allocate a portion of their taxes to a religious group of
their choice.

While negative views of Islam in this Catholic
nation have played a part, the sheer size and diversity of Italy’s
Muslim population may be among the biggest obstacles to the community’s
recognition, said Mustafa Cenap Aydin, director of the Istituto Tevere
in Rome, a group that promotes intercultural dialogue.

Aydin
mentioned another hurdle to Muslim integration in Italy: ”Maybe 95
percent of Muslims are not citizens here,” he explained. That includes
men like Jahan, who followed his brother to Rome two years ago in search
of work.

“Muslims in Italy are facing the challenge of situating
Islam in Italy,” said Abdel Latif Chalikandi, a lawyer and cultural
mediator at the Mosque of Rome. “Are you a Muslim or an Italian?”

Chalikandi
himself moved to Rome from Kerala, India, after meeting his wife,
Sabrina Lei, a Catholic-born Italian convert to Islam who has translated
the works of several Islamic writers into Italian. Together, the two
are working to publish more books about Islam in Italy.

Making a
new life in a new country is not easy. Besides new languages, there are
new foods and new customs. Fulfilling Muslim religious requirements may
also be difficult.
“Italian Muslims have complete religious
freedom,” Chalikandi said. “They have the right to pray, they have the
right to fast. But there are, having said that, some issues.”

He
said religious obligations such as circumcision, Muslim-specific burial
grounds and halal meats can pose problems for Italian Muslims. Food is a
particularly sensitive issue among Italian Muslims who cannot eat pork
or drink alcoholic beverages.

Still, the religious prohibition
against eating pork has not deterred all Muslims. Sharif Ahmed is a
waiter at a traditional Italian restaurant near Piazza Navona, across
the Tiber River from the Vatican. A recent transplant from Delhi, India,
he appeared at ease presenting plates of salami and prosciutto and
pouring wine for customers. Ahmed said that he does not eat pork or
drink alcohol.

But things are complicated at the intersection of domestic politics, immigration policies, and cultural adjustments:

But beyond dietary
differences, darker sources of dissonance are often at work.
Islamophobia is alive and well in the country, particularly among
conservative politicians who blame the country’s economic woes on
immigrants. In many circles, being Muslim is synonymous with being an
immigrant.

But worse than brash politicians are forces within the Muslim
community that put it at odds with Italian society, Aydin said. In 2009,
a Moroccan immigrant murdered his 18-year-old daughter after he found
her dating an older Italian man, reinforcing stereotypes of honor
killings and misogyny.

“Weeks and weeks the Italian newspapers are talking about this
tragic event,” Aydin said. “They’d pose questions in these terms: ‘What
do you think about this Pakistani girl who was killed since she was
dating an Italian guy?’”

Before Muslims can adopt an active role
together, however, they must organize. “There is a crisis in Muslim
leadership and knowledge,” said Chalikandi.

The Muslim community,
Chalikandi added, badly needs thinkers familiar with Islamic
jurisprudence as well as Italian cultural norms and practices.

The
Italian government has taken a number of steps in recent years to
assimilate Muslims. In 2005, the Ministry of the Interior established
the Council for Italian Islam to foster dialogue between the government
and the Italian Muslim community. The council was meant to be an
umbrella body coordinating the country’s various Islamic organizations.
That would have provided the structure for Islam to be legally
recognized as a religion eligible to receive tax money.

“The
Italian state wanted to recognize the religion,” Chalikandi lamented,
“but unfortunately, the Muslim organizations and leaders couldn’t get a
consensus and they couldn’t sign that accord with the government.”

Despite
the divisions, the Council for Italian Islam is still intact and could
yet serve as a useful forum for the country’s various Islamic
organizations.

Still, both Chalikandi and Aydin said efforts to
organize the different groups representing the Islamic community of
Italy may be a long-term project.

“Muslims are learning,” Chalikandi said. “And still for Islam there is no second or third generation here yet.”

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Irtiqa is a Science and Religion blog. It tracks and comments on news relevant to the interplay of science & religion - with a focus on scientific debates taking place in the Muslim world. Irtiqa literally means evolution in Urdu. But it does not imply only biological evolution. Instead, it is an all encompassing word used for evolution of the universe, biological evolution, and also for biological/human development. While it has created confusion in debates over biological evolution in South Asia, it provides a nice integrative name for a blog that addresses issues of science & religion. For further information, contact Salman Hameed.

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On Muslims and Evolution

Salman Hameed

Salman is an astronomer and Associate Professor of Integrated Science & Humanities at Hampshire College, Massachusetts. Currently, he is working on understanding the rise of creationism in contemporary Islamic world and how Muslims view the relationship between science & religion. He is also working with historian Tracy Leavelle at Creighton University to analyze reconciliation efforts between astronomers and Native Hawaiians over telescopes on top of sacred Mauna Kea in Hawaii. He teaches “History and Philosophy of Science & Religion” with philosopher Laura Sizer, and “Science in the Islamic World”, both at Hampshire College. Salman and Laura Sizer are also responsible for the ongoing Hampshire College Lecture Series on Science & Religion, and you can find videos of all these lectures below. Contact information here.